The Central Bank of Lesotho’s Monetary Policy committee (MPC) last week cut down the CBL lending rate from 7 percent to 6.75 percent per annum.

Apart from reducing the lending rate, the committee has also increased the net international reserves (NIR) target floor from US$770 million to US$830 million as part of efforts to maintain the country’s macroeconomic stability.

The CBL Governor Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, noted that macroeconomic developments in developed and emerging market economies, which are likely to affect the domestic economy, called for urgent fiscal consolidation.

She was speaking at the bank’s 70th MPC meeting held last week.

She further indicated that the committee would continue to monitor developments, that may impact the NIR levels and assure the market that the bank would continue to hold sufficient reserves to underwrite the peg.